Steven Pressfield's Blog, page 100

Conventions and Obligatory Scenes

Here’s some more from “The Story Grid.”
If I hand you my novel and tell you it’s a murder mystery, what would you expect from the book before you even turned the title page?

You’d expect that someone will be killed early in the telling, if not on the very first page.
You’d expect that there will be
More >>

Writing and Money, Part 2

Today’s post is a follow-up to last week’s Is Money Necessary?, which was inspired by Charles Rosasco’s recent note to me:

Jack Lemmon won an Oscar for his performance in “Save the Tiger,” written by Steve Shagan

I’m really sick of hearing famous actors/writers/musicians talk about how unimportant money and success are (that it is “just the work”
More >>

The Metrics of a Bestseller and the “Oprah Effect”

New York Times “Advice, How-To & Miscellaneous” Bestseller list, October 20, 2013

What makes a bestseller?

What is the “Oprah Effect” on books?
I’ve thought about these two questions on repeat through the years—and finally have a set of answers.
Let’s start with the bestseller question.
What Makes a Bestseller?
The War of Art will debut at lucky #13
More >>

Is Money Necessary?

I’m stealing the title of today’s post from Maureen Dowd’s terrific book, Are Men Necessary? What got me thinking about this subject (money, I mean) is a note I received from a writer named Charles Rosasco. Thanks, Charles, for letting me use your real name:

No problem: it’s just brain surgery

Could you comment on money and
More >>

The Hierarchy of Needs

I’ve been working on a doorstop of a book called The Story Grid. It’s about long form storytelling from the editor’s point of view. It’s my answer to “what do you do…literally…step-by-step…from the moment you’re handed a manuscript to the moment you hand it back to the writer to revise.” As I’m nearing the finish
More >>

You, as the Muse Sees You

What follows is my own personal metaphysical model for how writing (and all art) works. You may think I’m crazy. I may indeed be crazy.

Mt. Helikon in Greece, dwelling place of the nine Muses

“The Muse,” as I imagine her, is the collective identity of the nine goddesses, sisters, daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne (Memory), whose
More >>

Post-Oprah Shock Waves

My hour-long interview on Oprah Winfrey’s Super Soul Sunday aired four days ago.

“And so we bid a fond farewell to beautiful Maui … “

I was wondering what the after-effects would be. Would there be a sudden surge in visibility for The War of Art? For this site? If so, would it change how I feel
More >>

3 Things I Learned from Oprah

[Before we get to this actual blog post, lemme say again thanks to everyone who signed up for First Look Access, and received an early look at the Foolscap videos and The Authentic Swing. Thank you for your comments, for taking part in the bundle offer and for your “ask me anything” questions. The Authentic
More >>

Furyk swings Authentic Swing, shoots 59

Does anyone beside me know who Jim Furyk is?
Jim Furyk is a 16-time winner on the PGA tour, the 2003 U.S. Open champion—and possessor of the single weirdest, loopiest, most homemade swing on the planet. As I write this on Saturday, September 14th, Jim Furyk has just become the sixth golfer in history to shoot
More >>

The Evolution of This Blog

First lemme thank everybody who has signed up for FIRST LOOK ACCESS and is following the Foolscap videos (#1 last week, #2 this week) and the introduction of The Authentic Swing (all only available through FIRST LOOK ACCESS). Wow, what a sentence. Totally incomprehensible to anyone who is not a regular reader of this blog.
Thinking
More >>